


Festival Night

by thisislegit



Category: One Piece
Genre: ((usopp and robin only appear briefly tho)), Cute, Dates, Fluff, Humor, M/M, ZoSan Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-17 13:25:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11276187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisislegit/pseuds/thisislegit
Summary: “ANOTHER FEAT BY THE WORLD’S STRONGEST MAN, JORIRI.” The woman turned to Mr. Mohawk and with faux sympathy said, “Oh! Sorry, sir. Maybe next time. We can’t always beat the best, but we can do our best and that’s what matters. Do we have any other takers? ANY OTHER TAKERS READY FOR THE STRONG MAN CHALLENGE? HOW ABOUT YOU SIR? MADAM? YOU OVER THERE? ARE YOU INTERESTED?”“What kind of shit name is Joriri,” said Zoro and Sanji in unison.





	Festival Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kt1434](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kt1434/gifts).



> another request complete for zosan month, which is the same universe as "A Night Out" i should be posting another request tonight, and two or three more by monday if i can keep this roll going  
> hope this is to your liking kt

A man in a tuxedo with a frame as narrow as a bamboo stock spun his cane as he twirled a top the gold and red sign. He tipped his top hat back with his forefinger and the ends of his mustache curled in delight as more customers poured inside.

“WELCOME TO THE GRANDE CARNIVAL.” He said, startling some of the newcomers and making others laugh or smile at his enthusiasm.

Something about this guy gave Zoro the creeps. It seemed like Usopp shared the sentiment since he hung close behind Zoro while they walked under the wide gate with white triangle boards jutting from the sides. This island seemed to be a place for a year-long carnival. Which sounded cool at first, but Zoro felt bad for the people who was probably working with screaming children twelve hours a day every day of every year. At least parents got a 15-18 average year limit before their kids left to do their own thing. The workers here were stuck until they left, or died. Whichever came first.

“Why does it look like the open mouth of a monster?” Usopp’s knees were shaking as he held onto Zoro’s arm.

Robin appeared beside Zoro saying, “Perhaps we’ll be eaten by some hideous creature at the end of the night.”

“Or maybe, the gate is a scanner for strong warriors.” Usopp moved to stand between Zoro and Robin. “And the monster only wants to eat the strongest.”

“Or maybe, he eats the weakest. Which means our crew have nothing to worry about.”

Usopp swallowed and started to sweat. “Y-yeah, only the weakest. I, THE GREAT USOPP, HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR.”

The weather was humid, leaving Robin in dark t-shirt and short capri pants, while Usopp had forgone his usual overalls for a green t-shirt and loose shorts. Zoro finally got to wear his sleeveless hoodie, but stuck to plain jeans with his swords holding tight to one of his belt loops. Luffy had gone off with Franky and Chopper towards the rides with Franky wanting to check their structures for ideas. Luffy and Chopper planned to see who would throw up first while going on the rides which spun you in the air. Zoro received an invite to the competition which he denied. The more he looked around the carnival the creepier it became.

“Or maybe,” Zoro started.

Robin and Usopp leaned towards him somewhat eager to hear his input.

The yellow and red fabric of the tents looked worn with large patches of brighter fabric covering up holes. The lighting which was strung from tall wooden poles to help illuminate the walkways and brighten up the signs were shaped like oblong circles and glowed green. Didn’t help that the performer’s clothing, though their outfits went from normal to ridiculous, looked brand new. That helped to throw off the creep vibes at first, but the eerie smiles did help re-enforce them.

 “Maybe, you’re both being ridiculous. It’s just a shitty carnival. The worst we’ll run into is a party clown with a bad attitude.”

The best way to convince yourself you’re wrong is to convince someone else, and he wasn’t about to be hyper focused on looking for things to go wrong while there was money in his pocket and a desire to eat something new.

“Robin-chwan! You left your umbrella!”

Zoro snorted. “Speaking of clowns with bad attitudes.”

Sanji either didn’t hear Zoro or ignored the comment as he handed Robin her umbrella with hearts in his eyes. “Nami-swan said it’ll briefly rain tonight, and I wouldn’t want you to be unprepared.”

“Thank you, Sanji.”

“Did you grab my umbrella?” Usopp asked.

“Get it yourself, asshole.”

“Rude!”

Turning on his heel, Zoro wandered the other way disappearing into crowd. At least he tried to. A pale hand grabbing his shoulder stopped him from getting past the first of many stalls.

Sanji’s eyebrow twitched when they made eye contact. “Where the hell do you think you’re going.”

It wasn’t a question, but Zoro was eager to rise to the bait as he said, “Away from the clown in the pink shirt.”

“Clow-? Oh, real nice. Maybe I should let you go by yourself. That way when you’re stuck here the demon of the east blue will change to the jester of backwater.”

“Not your best insult.”

“No,” Sanji dropped his hand from Zoro’s shoulder, “That would be your face. It’s an insult to everyone.”

Like he hadn’t heard that one before. Zoro knew they could stand there and bicker all night, but he had a nice amount of pocket change for food, and he wanted to enjoy his time there while he could. There was no telling when someone on the crew would discover some secret underground plot that was poisoning the island, or the owner of the carnival would have some harbored grudge against their crew for fighting some rando and winning. Or the common possibility of just some prick with a lot of money and his head up his own ass being rebuffed by one of their crew members and a whole fiasco spurring from the situation. There was an odd trend to their enemies that Zoro just now noticed, and man could they really not catch a break.

Zoro clicked his tongue. “So, just like your existence. Got it, and there’s no need to babysit me. I would’ve found my way back.”

“Well aren’t you primed and primmed with shit. Accept that you couldn’t find your way out of a paper bag, and come on.”

Sanji grabbed hold of Zoro’s wrist, before they continued walking down the direction Zoro started towards. The cook didn’t look back to see if Usopp and Robin were still there, and it seemed like he was trying to keep his attention on Zoro. And while juvenile, the thought did make Zoro feel kind of smug. Sanji wanted to focus on him tonight. He felt his cheeks grow warm, and feeling bold, Zoro shifted his hand until his and Sanji’s fingers were interlaced. Oh yes, this was much better. The heat against his palm which grew more rapidly than a normal body temperate would made Zoro swear that if he had to get burn cream like last time he’d kick the cook’s ass for real.

After the first secret date, that Zoro was glad to be aware of as it was happening, they’d been taking things slow. Snail pace slow. An example being that the most Zoro and Sanji had done was sit close to each other and hold hands when no one else was around. Zoro was fine with it. Mostly. He didn’t think much about kissing or sex. Not because he didn’t like those things, but because they didn’t float around his mind too much. Honestly, he was looking forward to when Sanji would be relaxed enough to hug. The cook was narrow in the right places, and Zoro wanted to grab him simply to hold him a lot more often as of late. Was that mushy? Yes, but at least he didn’t noodle around like a dumbass whenever anyone attractive breathed in his direction.

The pair passed by game booths, food stalls with their own special cuisines, gift stalls, and the occasional performance booth as they explored the terrain. This place didn’t seem to have an end. Was the whole island a never-ending carnival? The scent of cinnamon and sugar wafted by making Zoro wrinkle his nose. On his left sat an ice cream stall giving off the sugary smell. Zoro watched a family taking cup sundaes with twisted churros sticking from the top shaped to look like hearts. Sanji would probably like one of those, but their first date had been an ice cream date, and Zoro was craving something meatier to eat. Like the man carving huge slices of meat from the spit it was roasting on in the stall two booths down. Further back than that was a crowd of people gathered in a thick circle with a tall structure in the middle of the group. Someone was shouting from the center, and a muscled man stood higher than the crowd.

“What do you think’s going on over there?” Sanji gave his hand a squeeze.

Instead of responding, Zoro lead them closer to the group until they could see the small woman in a greying tweed suit, standing on a soapbox with her hands cupped around her mouth.

“Step right up ladies and gentleman, step right up for your chance to beat the World’s Strongest Man.”

“World’s strongest?” Zoro gave the man an unimpressed once over. “Yeah, right.”

“Is this gonna be one of your masculinity things?”

“Shh.”

The woman on the soap box took off her top hat allowing her yellow hair to spiral down her round cheeks as she said, “For ten thousand berries, you can give this rig a try. The Strong Man Challenge. Just take the hammer and strike the press as hard as you can. If you can send the weight higher than the world’s strongest you will win this.” She pulls out a white card with a black stripe on the back of it. “What is this you ask? I’ll tell you what it is. This card allows you to play any carnival game for as many tries as you like, no charge. And yes, you are still guaranteed your prizes, as many as you can win, as long as you follow the rules of the booth. Does that mean by beating the world’s strongest at the strong man game you could clean out every game booth of their prizes? It absolutely does and this opportunity goes all for just ten thousand beri. Do we have any takers, any takers at all? You ma’am in the back? You sir over there? Anyone, anyone at all?”

“I’ll try it,” said a beefy man near the front. His purple mohawk stood a good 15 centimeters from his head, and the shoddy t-shirt and leather pants made him stand out against the world’s strongest man’s attire of a flimsy, red leotard which emphasized the size of his muscles. He was probably trying to compensate for something.

“You can hand me your cash, deary.” The woman stepped down allowing the man to drop the bill into her hand. “That’s ten thousand beri all right. Take this hammer right here, and give it a whirl. Don’t be disappointed if you lose, since you can always try again.”

Mr. Mohawk scoffed. “This thing ain’t even that tall.”

“Good luck, little man.”

Zoro and Sanji pushed through the crowd so they could see better. The so-called world’s strongest man was smirking with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t look that strong. Zoro had seen bigger. Which means he was going to be winning that game card. Sanji dropped Zoro’s hand in favor for pulling out a cigarette choosing to let it hang unlit from his lips as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Mr. Mohawk lifted the hammer with a grunt before swinging it down in a wobbly arc. The weight on the scale went up, and up, stopping above the number 200 which sat just under the middle of the tower. The world’s strongest man took the hammer from the smaller man and rolled his shoulders.

“I’ve seen better from my grandmother. Watch this.”

Zoro kind of wished the so-called world’s strongest man had a name, so he could call him something else in his head. The larger man lifted his hammer and threw it down making the weight fly up, past the first man’s mark, hitting the bell that sat above the number 700. A resounding gong flowed over the crowd as they ooh’ed and awe’d.

“ANOTHER FEAT BY THE WORLD’S STRONGEST MAN, JORIRI.” The woman turned to Mr. Mohawk and with faux sympathy said, “Oh! Sorry, sir. Maybe next time. We can’t always beat the best, but we can do our best and that’s what matters. Do we have any other takers? ANY OTHER TAKERS READY FOR THE STRONG MAN CHALLENGE? HOW ABOUT YOU SIR? MADAM? YOU OVER THERE? ARE YOU INTERESTED?”

“What kind of shit name is Joriri,” said Zoro and Sanji in unison.

They looked at each other for a moment before both turned to look at something else. Zoro dug out his wallet and counted the money Nami gave him not having time to do so when he was on the ship. Turns out he was short about half the price to play this challenge.

“Damn sea witch only gave me 5.”

Sanji’s lips curled into a sneer. “Don’t call my beautiful Nami-swan that you overgrown moss. You’re lucky you got that much from her charitable hands.”

“Let me borrow some cash.”

“Hell no.”

“I know she gives you guys more cause I owe her money, and you know I can win this shit game.”

 “We don’t even need a card like that.”

“For ten thousand beri, we get a card that goes to every game booth and can win as many prizes from them as we want. It’s profitable, so Nami will look at your winnings as something to be admired and Robin might be woo’ed by your determi-.”

Five thousand beri was slammed into his open palm before he could finish his sentence.

“If this is rigged and I lose my money for nothing, I will kill you.”

Zoro nodded and bundled the bills together in one hand. He grabbed Sanji’s hand giving it another quick squeeze to reassure him and because Zoro wanted to before he worked his way to the front of the crowd. The woman on the soapbox stopped talking when she saw him approach and stepped down from her perch.

“Would you like to give it a go, sir?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

“Yeah.”

Joriri, god that’s a stupid name, burst into laughter. “You? You are the size of my pinky finger. Don’t waste your money.”

Zoro kept his expression bored as he counted out his bills and handed them to the woman. “You can go first then, big guy.”

“Did you not just see me hit the bell with the weight?”

“Might’ve been a fluke,” Zoro smirked, “Can the world’s strongest not do a repeat performance?”

Joriri chuckled and grabbed the hammer. Yeah, he laughs now, but Zoro would be laughing at the end of this game. Sanji managed to worm his way to the front, the cigarette between his lips lit. Which was fine until Sanji smiled and winked at him. Or was that a blink? It was hard to tell with his dumb hair in the way, but Zoro’s knew his face was growing warm from the attention nonetheless and wasn’t that something. From the corner of his eye, Zoro spotted the soapbox woman touch something on the soap box before the man’s hammer came down on the scale. The weight flew up, hitting the bell at the top, and sending another loud gong over the crowd. The woman slid her hand across the soapbox a second time when the weight returned to the bottom of the scale. She must be messing with some kind of switch to rig the game. Which meant Zoro might have to break the thing so his money doesn’t get stolen.

“Good luck, little man.” The “world’s strongest” handed Zoro the hammer.

“Oi, asshole.” Sanji’s voice caught his attention.

“Huh?”

“Hit it twice as hard.”

Turning his head Zoro gave Sanji a shit-eating grin and asked, “Why not three times?”

“Don’t break the damn thing,” Sanji said holding a hand over his mouth as if he were about to take out his cigarette.

The way the corner of Sanji’s lip quirked up before he covered his mouth told Zoro that he was hiding a smile. Zoro was definitely going to break this thing. Turned back to the scale, he raised the hammer before swinging it down in a perfect arc. The scale, once struck, failed to handle the pressure snapping in half as it sent the weight up the tower. The momentum from the weight was fast. Too fast really, because the bell at the top flew off with the weight off into the sky. Whoops. The soapbox’ woman’s eyes had grown wide while Joriri fell to his knees, his mouth open in shock. Zoro didn’t waste another second, forgoing the hammer to take the game card from the woman’s hand before making his way back to Sanji. Grabbing his hand, Zoro pulled them through the shocked crowd and back into the bustle of the carnival so they wouldn’t be stopped.

“I told you not to break it, stupid!”

“You said twice as hard.”

Sanji hit Zoro across the back of his head. “THAT WAS THREE TIMES AND YOU KNOW IT.”

“Yeah?” Zoro said smiling.

“Y-yeah. Yes.”

Their pace slowed from a brisk run to a steady walk. Sanji’s cheeks were still pink and the cigarette was mostly ash by now, the red embers giving the smallest glow against his lips. Zoro wanted to kiss him, but he’d wait. He knew kissing Sanji right now wouldn’t have the best results for whatever steady thing they were making together.

Zoro rubbed his thumb along the outside of Sanji’s palm. “I saw some cool prizes at the game booths where Robin and Usopp went. Want to go?”

“Yeah,” Sanji looked at him with a smug smile, “But I get first pick.”


End file.
